Case Number 05714: Small Claims Court

ORPHEN SEASON II: REVENGE (VOLUME 2)

The Charge

Two's company, three's a crowd...but what's four?!

The Case

I've never seen Season One of Orphen, and I also missed the first
volume of Season Two, so I went in expecting to feel completely lost. Instead, I
was able to get into the story right away, and character relationships filled
themselves in naturally. By the end of this volume of episodes, I knew who
everyone was, and I was hooked.

Orphen is a sorcerer of some skill, but he isn't the very best and doesn't
bill himself that way. He travels the land along with his companions: Cleao, a
feisty girl who comes from a privileged background and packs a sword she isn't
afraid to use; sweet-natured Majic, Orphen's teenaged apprentice (and de facto
servant); and newest member Lycoris, an innocent and bookish girl who has been
trying to convince Orphen to join the Royal Public Order of Knighthood
organization that she represents. Although they get into all sorts of situations
and adventures, the arc of the series is a plague of enormous monsters that are
trying to kill Orphen. He doesn't know why this is happening, but the audience
knows that a wizard named Flame Soul is siccing these creatures on Orphen,
though we do not yet know why. Perhaps the subtitle of this series
("Revenge") holds some clue?

In between defending himself against monsters and fighting off Lycoris's
insistent pleas to join up with the Knights, Orphen seeks peace and an end to
the conflict in his life. However, it doesn't look like his past is going to
leave him be any time soon.

There are four episodes in this volume:

*"Awaken, Beloved One" The gang confronts a sorcerer who is
using forbidden magic to prolong the life of his beloved daughter, and become
embroiled in a bittersweet family conflict.

*"Shrimp Man, Crab Woman" Orphen temporarily loses his
voice, making it difficult to fight the newest monster on the scene, and an old
friend calling himself Black Tiger (Shrimp Man) and his sidekick White Club
(whom everyone mishears as "White Crab") show up to help.

*"The Sweet Trap of an Errand" Cleao is asked to do some
shopping, and she can't wait to spend money. Lycoris agrees to go with her and
keep an eye on her spending, running herself ragged as Cleao buys up all the
useless trinkets she can find. When the two stumble across a bank-robbing trio
who also take their legitimate purchases, they have to chase them down in order
to get them back, and end up bonding in the process.

*"Is That a Bird?" The money has run out, and delicate
Lycoris sees it as her responsibility to find a job as a manual laborer in order
to earn some quick cash. Cleao feels guilty, so she sells an unwitting Orphen
and Majic into a pervy modeling job and goes to find Lycoris, who accidentally
unleashes a giant bird on the populace.

I enjoyed these episodes immensely. The action was tight but not frantic,
and the humor was perfectly balanced -- funny, fun, but not too self-conscious,
and not so absurd that the viewer is blown out of the reality of their universe.
I really connected with the characters, too, especially kindhearted Majic, who
cares very much for his friends and wants to be a good wizard but lacks the
discipline required to pick it up as quickly as he would like. However, he is
determined, and he is willing to work hard, and this has earned him Orphen's
respect. I also like Lycoris, who balances the impulsiveness of the other team
members (especially Cleao) and manages to be the stereotypical "innocent,
soft-spoken girl with glasses" type without being annoying or a total
cliché.

Speaking of stereotypes, Orphen Season Two somehow manages to be
extremely derivative, yet fresh at the same time. When I am watching, I'm
reminded of a handful of different anime series (probably most strongly of
Slayers), but I just don't care -- with gorgeous animation, compelling
characters, and a well-written story, I'm entertained and left wanting more at
the end of each episode. Orphen Season Two proves that you don't have to
have a completely new, bleeding-edge concept in order to entertain the audience;
sometimes, all it takes is a nonformula way of telling a formula story.

Video and audio transfer for Orphen Season Two is excellent, with a
crisp image that shows off the glossy animation well. Sound is clear and robust,
with a stereo mix that is not particularly active as far as channel separation,
but (for the mostly open-air settings, especially) has a good balance on
environmental sound that helps to set mood. I found myself paying special
attention to the animation for this series. It's nothing special or innovative,
but it has a kinetic quality that I like, and light and dark balancing is done
well -- sun glints and shadows look like a painting in each scene. Also, the
body language of each character, right down to Lycoris's and Cleao's
supernatural pets Pam and Leki, is natural and unforced. Expressions are
sometimes exaggerated, but never to the point where it becomes gratuitous --
extreme body language is used sparingly, and it usually accompanies extreme
changes in emotion for the character.

As for extras, the usual clean opening and closing sequences are provided,
as well as some previews, and there's a full-color insert with a box-sized
poster with the front cover image. I did have a good laugh over a short (under
ten minutes) outtakes reel, though -- as suggested by the "15 and up"
age recommendation on the box, this outtakes reel is not for children. There are
a couple of dialogue flubs, but most are actors having fun with characters, as
in one scene where Lycoris is told by a zookeeper that a giant bird she is
supposed to be tending is carnivorous, and then later on the zookeeper says she
was just joking. Still in the little-girl character voice, the voice actress
says, "That's not nice, bitch!" Other comments get racier from there,
including one flubbed line where Orphen wonders about the state of
his...um...you'll just have to watch.

All in all, one can expect a good time while watching Orphen Season
Two. An interesting development in Volume Two is a mysterious woman with
shocking red hair who seems to be following the team at a distance. We see her
at the tail end of Episode Five, and she actually talks to Lycoris at the end of
Episode Six. On top of the mystery of Flame Soul's behavior, it's up to the
viewer to follow the cookie crumbs to future volumes.